STEVEN GERRARD today promised to lead by example and prevent England suffering the “absolute disaster” of an early World Cup exit.

Though there have been suggestions that Fabio Capello’s squad are fed up of the regime he has implemented, Gerrard has “loved every minute” of the time he has spent in South Africa – and is desperate for the adventure to continue

The Liverpool midfielder, who will again captain England in this afternoon’s Group C decider with Slovenia, is in a positive frame of mind and is confident England will get the result they need in Port Elizabeth to progress to the last 16.

He is, however, aware of the ramifications should they fluff their lines and that is why Gerrard has vowed to leave a disappointing display against Algeria behind by showing the zest that was so evident during the draw with the USA.

“I can certainly understand why the fans are angry,” said Gerrard. “We came here with big expectations. We have got a lot of support here. People have paid big money and expect us to win games.

“The last thing we want to do is to go home after the group stages. That would be an absolute disaster for this group of players. The fear of not winning drives you on.

“Personally, I can’t wait to get out there. We are desperate to get that win and to get into the next stages, and then we can really start to kick on. I absolutely love being involved here.

“The key is to try and live without fear. You are playing for England and you have massive support. But it doesn’t help to go on to the pitch and play with that fear.

“You have to go on to the pitch and try to relax and be patient. Then the performance will come. We need to change the perception of how we have done so far. We want to make the nation proud and happy.”

England find themselves in such a fraught position due to a wretched display in Cape Town last Friday and under scrutiny due to John Terry’s now infamous outburst.

But Gerrard – who was not present in the group that, according to Terry, had “a beer” following that 0-0 draw with Algeria – has been quick to draw a line under the affair and is determined to get people talking for all the right reasons.

“We have stopped doing the things we are good at,” said Gerrard.

“We watched the Algeria game in the team meeting the other day, without anyone talking, and it was clear that we didn’t play to our strengths.

“We weren’t aggressive enough. We didn’t press high enough. We didn’t win the ball back when we lost possession. We didn’t run enough. We didn’t have the cutting edge to break them down. We need to get that against Slovenia.”

l Milan Jovanovic has revealed he could pull out of his move to Liverpool.

The Serbia striker, whose contract at Standard Liege came to an end this summer, signed a pre-contract agreement with the Reds in February.

However, speculation has been rife that Rafa Benitez, now at Inter Milan, would attempt to ambush the deal.

And Jovanovic has hinted he could decide to follow Benitez to the San Siro.

“There is an agreement signed with Liverpool, but if either party wants to end it, it’s not impossible,” he said.